The Day Tenryuu Was a Total Badass
by Levi-shousa
Summary: Tenryuu has never been one to back down from a fight. When a skirmish with an Abyssal cruiser leads to her surprising victory, she leaps at the chance to properly sink it. Only problem is, it's a one-way mission.


The spiky mine hit Tenryuu in the face much like a bird hits a window. Hearing the _click_ of it arming, her impulses took over, and she raised her left fist, punching the mine away. It bounced off the water a few times before detonating in a shower of flames and shrapnel.

With a scowl, Tenryuu fixed her eye on the distant figure of an Abyssal battleship. Despite her being no stranger to the battlefield, the light cruiser had still only recently been commissioned. It wasn't the easiest task to identify Abyssal silhouettes, but even this one was unfamiliar. No Abyssal came to mind with that figure and the ability to fling mines that far.

Feeling warmth spread across her upper lip, Tenryuu brushed a gloved hand against it, coming out with a sticky redness. She clenched her fist, a familiar blazing heat building within her breast.

"Made me bleed… Betcha think yer some kinda hotshot, huh?" Other boats flew past her on their way to engage the Abyssal ship and her guardian floating fortresses. She paid them no mind, raising her waterline katana instead. "I swear on this sword in my hand that I'll kick your ass so hard you'll be breathing through it! Get ready, I'm gonna sink ya like ya never been sunk before!"

Tatsuta came to a halt beside her, one hand gripping her bladed pole and the other holding onto her floating halo. She must have heard the boast, for she rolled her eyes. "A light cruiser like you sink a boss like that? You're really sure of yourself today."

Scowl deepening; Tenryuu fixed the other battleship with a glare. As she stared at Tatsuta, something clicked in her mind. She smiled a steadily growing smile.

"Bend over."

"Here? In the middle of battle?" Tatsuta's voice was full of playful teasing.

"Just shut the hell up and bend over," Tenryuu said, swatting the other girl's butt with the flat of her sword. "I have a plan."

It wasn't typical for Tatsuta to show much emotion. The sound of "I have a plan" caused terror to strike her face. She paled and her purple eyes dilated a little as she began to process the full meaning of the phrase.

"_You_ have a _plan_?" she asked, seemingly unable to keep the shock and surprise from her voice. "I – This – Did that mine cause brain damage or something?"

"Why aren't you bending over?"

Unable to do anything else out of sheer confusion, she bent over. Tenryuu backed up a few yards and then started sprinting towards Tatsuta, who closed her eyes and prepared for the worst. Tenryuu leapt into the air, and her feet slammed into Tatsuta's back for a fraction of a second before she jumped again.

The Abyssal boat had launched enough mines into the air to blot out the sun momentarily. Tenryuu had seen it reach into the water to collect them while Tatsuta teased her. Her plan was pretty simple: Jump off Tatsuta's back and then keep jumping on the incoming mines. The laws of physics were a concept lost on the light cruiser, and she was determined to make sure they didn't apply.

The first mine hurtled towards Tenryuu. Somehow, it narrowly passed below her and she kicked off it, propelling herself towards the next mine. The exact same thing happened there, and with the next mine, and the one after that.

Tatsuta stared at this bizarre turn of events, jaw hanging open.

The rest of the fleet was far behind Tenryuu as she reached the descent portion of her arc. Instead of kicking off mines, she began to dodge them, keeping her gaze focused intently on the boss Abyssal. The floating fortresses had so far failed to notice her, toothy maws aimed straight ahead at the oncoming fleet.

Her smile was as toothy as that of the floating fortresses, and her katana was raised high. The Abyssal ship raised its head, and finally saw her. The multiple tentacles it was using to dredge up mines stopped in their duties and began to rocket skyward, towards the falling Tenryuu.

"Just what I was waiting for!" she shouted, slashing with her sword. The arms reaching for her split apart, darkness spewing from them. Her slashes were faster than the tentacles' attacks, and they began to pull back towards the Abyssal boat.

Tenryuu's descent brought her to a horrifyingly intimate level of closeness to the Abyssal ship. For a split second, she locked eyes with the creature. Nested in pale skin, underneath layers of scraggly black hair were two glowing, heavy-lidded red eyes.

Something jerked in Tenryuu's hands and she broke the gaze, her eye snapping to see what was going on.

Her katana had struck bone – or whatever it was an Abyssal had inside it – and gone right through again, slicing through flesh like it was nothing. Then she hit water and sunk for a moment, clenching her eye shut. She came up shortly, letting out a gasp for breath. The enemy boat had disappeared completely, leaving behind its two toothy minions.

Tenryuu's plan had been simple: _Kick the Abyssal boat's ass_. She had not considered the fact that its comrades might not like that plan. Judging from the intensifying glow of their red aura, they were not very pleased with what she had done.

The closest floating fortress exploded in a shower of black sludge, and scant seconds later so did the other. Turning her head, Tenryuu saw the approach of the fleet, Tatsuta leading the charge with a hand on her back. To say she looked miffed was an understatement, and Tenryuu had no doubt the Admiral wouldn't be the only person chewing her out royally when they got back to dry-dock.

Getting back to sea level, Tenryuu put a hand on her hips and pointed her sword at the approaching armada. "Party's over, girls. You missed all the fun." She smirked and tossed her head back. It wasn't as dramatic a gesture as she thought.

"The Abyssal minelayer may have fled, but scout planes have followed the blood trail to a small island chain. It may be wounded, but it still poses a threat to our ports. Unfortunately," the Admiral said, slapping his palm with his pointer, "scouts have also found that the Southern War Princess has resurfaced and is leading a small fleet toward this location."

He leaned forward on the podium, voice echoing through the crowded audience hall. "As such, we can hardly spare any of you to sink that minelayer. So I'm going to do something I've never done before.

"I'm going to ask for a volunteer."

The assembled girls were silent. A few exchanged worried glances, but none raised their hands or spoke up. With a quiet sigh, the Admiral opened his mouth to speak when he noticed something. Far in the back of the room was a single hand, waving at him, and a bouncing girl attached to it.

He pushed up his cap and narrowed his eyes, trying to focus on the girl better. "Sorry," the Admiral said, "who is that?"

As one, the assembled boat girls turned towards the source of the bouncing. Murmurs of _"Her? Really?"_ could be heard.

"Name's Tenryuu!" came a boisterous voice that was still loud despite the distance between them. "I'm the one that hurt her and I'll be the one to sink her. Ain't like anybody else is jumpin' up and down like me to go kick ass." For added emphasis, she jumped a few more times.

"You understand… this is a one-way mission? There's likely no coming back."

Hundreds of feet away, Tenryuu closed her eye and crossed her arms. "'Cept for the part where I plan on coming back. I may not be watertight when I do, but I ain't gonna let some Abyssal broad get the best of me." She punctuated her declaration with a dramatic finger point, whacking a Shimikaze in the head.

The Admiral lowered his head and closed his eyes. _I hope you can come home this time…_

The waterline katana spun in a lazy twirl, Tenryuu watching its every movement. With a flick of the wrist, she stabbed forward, stopping mid-twirl. Her thrust impaled the blade on a wooden dummy. She jerked backwards, trying to free the blade from the dummy, succeeding only in pulling it towards her. The head of the dummy smashed into hers, a sound not unlike two hollow coconuts colliding ringing out in the empty training room.

Tenryuu fell backwards, still clutching her sword, which pulled the dummy on top of her. She flailed about, trying to kick it off with little success.

A pair of hands grabbed the dummy by the shoulder and threw it to the side. It was Tatsuta. She offered a hand to Tenryuu, who accepted it, pulling herself up.

Tatsuta sighed, shaking her head. "Fell fighting a training dummy. How are you going to beat an Abyssal with that track record?"

With a deep scowl, Tenryuu replied, "Hey, I got this in the bag. He just… got the drop on me, is all."

"Uh-huh."

Tenryuu slammed a boot on the dummy's chest and leveraged the sword out with her hands. "Look, sis, I know the mission's a one-way street. But ya know what? I don't care. Ya see this?" She kicked the dummy. "I'm Tenryuu the screw-up to everybody, and this sucker's just proof of that. Stuff like this is all everybody knows me fer. 'That Tenryuu screwed up somethin' fierce. She ain't half as badass as she say she is.'

"I'm tired of bein' the butt of the fleet's jokes. Tired of havin' that anchor round my neck. Lemme go out as 'Tenryuu the Bombass Hero' instead of 'Tenryuu the Bombed Ass'." She sighed deeply.

There was a long silence, broken only by the distant sounds of waves crashing. Finally, Tatsuta found her voice.

"Alright. If that's what you want. Just remember the people counting on you. Remember your sister who loves you. That's all I'm going to ask."

"Hey," said Tenryuu. "I dig that." She swallowed, rubbing her eye. "See ya round, babe."

"Are you crying?" asked Tatsuta, voice getting a little teasy.

"Ain't tears, it's a splinter or somethin'. Just go on. I'll get goin' in a little bit."

"Alright," said Tatsuta softly. With that, she left.

Tenryuu lowered her hand, looking at it. It was wet.

Dawn was on its way, and the stinging chill of night could still be felt. Tenryuu paid no mind, skating on the surface of the ocean. She was beyond loaded for bear, two mortar cannons strapped to the regular gun mounts on her back and a modified waterline katana in one hand. The blade was black-and-blue instead of red-and-grey, and was about half again as long as her old one.

The Abyssal would meet her end today, Tenryuu swore. _Even if it costs me my life._ She gritted her teeth. No, she'd prove everyone long. Today, she'd live through this and kick that bitch's ass.

The sun shone brightly on the water, reflection making it hard to see with two eyes, much less one. Despite this, Tenryuu could make out the asymmetrical outline of the enemy cruiser in the distance. It was laying anchor off a small island that was the very picture of a cartoon desert island, palm tree and all.

The girl smirked at the sight of the damage she'd inflicted. She was better at night fighting – which was probably what had led to her victory against the Abyssal before – but to see her opponent in such a state was good news. What she did before was gonna be nothing compared to what she'd do next.

Blinking, Tenryuu lowered the binoculars to rub her eye. When she raised them again, the Abyssal boat was nowhere to be seen.

She barely had time to register this fact when the ocean behind her erupted in a geyser, and something snatched her by the leg, turning her upside down and dragging her into the air. The Abyssal boat! It gazed at her through heavy-lidded eyes, saltwater dripping from its scraggly hair.

Two tentacles reached behind Tenryuu and snaked around the cannons. With a twist, they tore the cannons off, shredding her jacket. She winced and gritted her teeth to fight off a scream. The cannons dropped into the ocean with a splash.

Clumsily, Tenryuu drew her sword. The Abyssal raised a tentacle to snatch it out of her hand, but it was too late. She had already started slashing it, and the tentacle was cleaved apart vertically. With a slightly more elegant movement, the girl cut the tentacle binding her in two, watching black blood spew from the wound.

She fell, another tentacle slamming into her back, dislodging her torpedo launcher. Not that it was of any use this close range.

As if the Abyssal could hear her thoughts, it leapt into the air, getting as far away from her lightning quick sword as possible. It wasn't fast enough, as the tentacle was damaged by a quick stab, going limp as it retracted to its master.

The remaining five intact tentacles curled under the water to collect mines from underneath the skirt that was the Abyssal's only clothing.

Tenryuu came face to face with a launched mine, her dodge failing to avoid it fully. It slammed into her chest. Instead of the familiar _click-click-BOOM_, there was only a _BOOM_, the detonation sending her flying backwards. Now her tie had disintegrated as well as most of her blouse.

Another mine rocketed into the air, descending rapidly. Without really thinking, Tenryuu gripped her sword in a two-handed stance like a baseball player at bat, and she swung at the mine with the flat of the blade. The impact sent the mine spiraling back at its owner, and it struck the Abyssal, explosion following soon after.

Tenryuu used the distraction to rip the remains of her blouse from her back, tensing for another strike.

The Abyssal flung another mine at her, and she smirked and swung –

– missing entirely. The mine splashed into the water beside her and exploded, knocking Tenryuu off her feet.

Picking herself up, she saw her skirt was little more than confetti. "Screw this," she muttered, tugging at the skirt's waist to remove it. Her naval-issue swimsuit and boots were the only remaining items of clothing on her body now.

She leapt forward, the sudden motion obviously surprising the Abyssal, as it froze after tossing a mine. Tenryuu slid underneath it, coming up right below its mass of tentacles. With a swipe, she cleaved only one of them apart. One knocked her in the gut, sending her flying away.

The tentacles reared back and rushed her, preparing to crush her. A brief, hazy memory flashed into Tenryuu's mind: Maikaze doing a pirouette mid-battle to avoid an enemy shell. With as much grace and elegance as she had – which wasn't much – Tenryuu mimicked the pirouette, which was really just an awkward spin. But it succeeded at taking her away from the oncoming storm of tentacles.

With a single slice, she cut the tentacles apart.

"H-how?" came the voice of the Abyssal, little more than a whisper.

Tenryuu blinked. _How _am_ I so badass now?_ Aloud, she said, "I'm Tenryuu! It ain't no surprise! It's natural! I'm the strongest! Fufufu, ya scared?"

She thrust her sword, burying a full third of it between the Abyssal's breasts.

"Well… ya should be!"

She leapt into the air, executing a full roundhouse kick, boot connecting with the hilt of the sword. The impact sent the sword deeper into the creature's chest, up to the hilt.

Landing, Tenryuu cocked a finger in the dying Abyssal's direction and opened her mouth to speak.

For once, she was at a loss for words. No pithy quip came to mind. She sighed and shook her head.

What, exactly, was the point of being a total badass without having a cool one-liner afterwards? Or for that matter, what was the point of being a total badass with nobody around to see.

Splashes and chattering interrupted her thought flow.

Well, nobody but dolphins.

Tenryuu laid on the caricature island, arms beneath her head, eye closed. A smoking flare gun was in one hand.

The fleet would come to rescue her.

Eventually.

The longer it took the better, really.


End file.
